“If you want to reach marginalized populations in general, but in healthcare as well, you've got to build a bridge based on trust,” says Dr. David Carlisle whose mission, as leader of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, is to train people from underserved communities to return home to provide healthcare. From Carlisle’s perspective, the pandemic has highlighted the longstanding and devastating disparities in health status tied to race and ethnicity, which has added urgency to efforts to reach and improve care for these populations. As he has witnessed with testing and vaccination programs held at CDU, affinity is a key ingredient in building trust. “When the surrounding community became aware that there were people on campus who spoke the same languages, shopped at the same shopping centers and attended the same churches, our numbers skyrocketed.” Listen in to learn what how the Delta variant is impacting education this semester, and for a riveting, impassioned plea to the unvaccinated to protect themselves and their communities as well as the frontline healthcare workers who are risking their lives to treat COVID patients.